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Covid2019 is changing how brands communicate

Published

6 years ago

June 7, 2020

The Covid2019 pandemic has caused a major disruption to both life and economy, forcing businesses to shut down, million becoming jobless, and many other forced to work from home and with salary cut. During this time, brands need to consistently communicate with their consumers and stakeholders to stay connected and maintain the brand recall. As traditional forms of brand engagement are not applicable in the current scenario it is absolutely necessary that brands need to utilise digital engagement or remote engagement. As we prepare to resume our lives at the end of the lockdown, albeit with a few restrictions, these learnings of engagement across platforms is going to stay for a while.

Brands are also waking up to the renewed importance of relevant communication. Right from building narratives and relevance to creating a positive brand image is becoming extremely crucial than it was ever before; more so for SMEs and MSMEs and smaller brands.

Here are four ways how brand communication is going to change Post-Covid.

Building Narratives: The way narratives are created post Covid2019 is set to drastically change. There is a major shift in building narratives that is moving from a brand centric conversation to a consumer centric narrative. As a result, earlier conversations around brand offerings, their benefits and many more, are now shifting towards consumer education, empathy, sharing useful information on health, and how consumers can leverage what the brand has to offer during this crisis. Brands are creating narratives that focus on the consumers’ needs rather than what they have to offer, with an empathetic narrative that reflects the brands commitment towards the best interest of its consumers. And this change in narrative is going to stay long after the lockdown is gone.

Integrated Communication: Post Covid2019, brand communication is being replaced by more holistic and integrated forms of communication. On ground campaigns are definitely going to take some time to build their traction and connect with consumers and stakeholders. But during the pandemic brands have been able create a good mix of both traditional and digital media to communicate the right messaging to increase brand visibility. PR, online advertising, social media marketing, influencer marketing have all been beneficial and brands have been successful in creating the right marketing mix to get the desired results. And this approach is going to last for a long time, after the lockdown has been lifted.

Utilising the right media channels: Communicating the right message to the right audience is very crucial during this time of crisis and being able to judiciously use the right media is the biggest factor. Social distancing has changed how media is consumed and after lockdown though traditional form of media will remain but the online media will become an integral part of all communication campaigns. Apart from social media and digital marketing, innovation in new age media, including OTT, branded content, influencer collaborations and in-film branding are set to become popular.

Internal Communication: While the external stakeholders have always been extremely important, the pandemic has forced people to work from home, making brands realise the significant role that employee engagement. From giving clarity about the business to informing employees on where they stand, internal communication has a gamut of significant roles that can be beneficial to both the businesses and the employees. Keeping employees in confidence on the recent developments is a very crucial and humane thing to do for businesses and brands are slowly opening up to this aspect of building employee engagement to create long term loyalty.

Using Technology: Due to Covid2019 the dependency on technology has suddenly increased manifolds; all forms of communication, messaging and engagement activities are being done through technology. Right from the use of app like Zoom and Skype for virtual meetings to using hangouts, Instagram and Facebook live sessions for webinars, mass engagement has transformed forever. While traditional media will always be there but the nuances of technology will never be forgotten and will be utilised to further engage with audiences.

The post Covid2019 scenario is going to be a new market for brands and to be able to survive here, it is important for them to adapt to the new rules of engagement. A fresh and relevant communication strategy is needed to grow and be successful in this market and be connected with consumers.

(The author is co-founder, Scenic Communication. The views expressed are her own and Indiantelevision.com may not subscribe to them.)

Related Topics:Anindita Gupta brands communicate covid2019

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Nielsen launches co-viewing pilot to sharpen TV measurement

Super Bowl pilot to refine how shared TV audiences are counted

Published

4 days ago

February 4, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: Nielsen is taking a fresh stab at one of television’s oldest blind spots: how many people are actually watching the same screen. The audience-measurement giant on February 4 unveiled a co-viewing pilot that uses wearable devices to better capture shared viewing, starting with America’s biggest broadcast stage.

The trial begins with Super Bowl LX on NBC on February 8, 2026, before extending to other high-profile live sports and entertainment events in the first half of the year. The goal is simple but commercially potent: count viewers more accurately, especially during live spectacles that pull families and friends to one screen.

The new approach leans on Nielsen’s proprietary wearable meters, wrist-worn devices that resemble smartwatches. These passively capture audio signatures from TV content, logging exposure to shows, films and live events without requiring viewers to sign in or self-report. In theory, fewer clicks, fewer lapses, better data.

Karthik Rao, Nielsen’s ceo, cast the move as part of a broader measurement push. He said the company’s task is to keep pushing accuracy as clients invest heavily in live programming that draws mass audiences. The co-viewing pilot, he added, builds on upgrades such as Big Data + Panel measurement, out-of-home expansion, live-streaming metrics and wearable-based tracking.

Co-viewing is not new territory for Nielsen, which has long tried to estimate how many people sit before a single set. What is new is the heavier integration of wearables and passive detection to reduce reliance on active inputs from panel homes.

For now, the pilot comes with caveats. Co-viewing estimates from the trial will not be folded into Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel ratings, which remain the industry’s trading currency. Instead, pilot findings will be shared with clients a few weeks after final Big Data + Panel ratings are delivered. Clients may disclose those findings publicly.

More impact data will follow later this year. Full integration into Nielsen’s marketing-intelligence suite is slated as a longer-term play, with a target of bringing co-viewing into currency measurement for the 2026–2027 season. This is only phase one, with further co-viewing enhancements planned beyond 2026 and additional timelines to be announced.

The push fits a wider pattern. Nielsen has in recent years expanded big-data integration, adopted first-party data for live-streaming measurement and broadened out-of-home tracking. It also positions itself as the reference point for streaming metrics through products such as The Gauge and the Nielsen Streaming Top 10.

In a market where billions of ad dollars hinge on decimal points, counting who is in the room matters. If Nielsen can pin down shared viewing, the humble sofa could become prime measurement real estate. The race to count every eyeball just found a new wrist to watch.

Brands

Delhivery chairman Deepak Kapoor, independent director Saugata Gupta quit board

Published

1 week ago

January 31, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

Gurugram: Delhivery’s boardroom is being reset. Deepak Kapoor, chairman and independent director, has resigned with effect from April 1 as part of a planned board reconstitution, the logistics company said in an exchange filing. Saugata Gupta, managing director and chief executive of FMCG major Marico and an independent director on Delhivery’s board, has also stepped down.

Kapoor exits after an eight-year stint that included steering the company through its 2022 stock-market debut, a period that saw Delhivery transform from a venture-backed upstart into one of India’s most visible logistics platforms. Gupta, who joined the board in 2021, departs alongside him, marking a simultaneous clearing of two senior independent seats.

“Deepak and Saugata have been instrumental in our process of recognising the need for and enabling the reconstitution of the board of directors in line with our ambitious next phase of growth,” said Sahil Barua, managing director and chief executive, Delhivery. The statement frames the exits less as departures and more as deliberate succession, a boardroom shuffle timed to the company’s evolving scale and strategy.

The resignations arrive amid broader governance recalibration. In 2025, Delhivery appointed Emcure Pharmaceuticals whole-time director Namita Thapar, PB Fintech founder and chairman Yashish Dahiya, and IIM Bangalore faculty member Padmini Srinivasan as independent directors, signalling a tilt towards consumer, fintech and academic expertise at the board level.

Kapoor’s tenure spanned Delhivery’s most defining years, rapid network expansion, public listing and the push towards profitability in a bruising logistics market. Gupta’s presence brought FMCG and brand-scale perspective during a period when ecommerce volumes and last-mile delivery economics were being rewritten.

The twin exits, effective from the new financial year, underscore a familiar corporate rhythm: founders consolidate, veterans rotate out, and fresh voices are ushered in to script the next chapter. In India’s hyper-competitive logistics race, even the boardroom does not stand still.

MAM

Meta appoints Anuvrat Rao as APAC head of commerce partnerships

Published

1 week ago

January 31, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

SINGAPORE: Anuvrat Rao has taken charge as APAC head of commerce and signals partnerships at Meta, steering monetisation deals across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp from Singapore. The former Google executive, known for launching Google Assistant, PWAs, AMP and Firebase across Asia-Pacific, steps into the role after a high-growth stint as chief business officer at Locofy.ai.

At Locofy.ai, Rao helped convert a three-year free beta into a paid engine, clocking 1,000 subscribers and 15 enterprise clients within ten days of launch in September 2024. The low-code startup, backed by Accel and top tech founders, is famed for turning designs into production-ready code using proprietary large design models.

Before that, Rao founded generative AI venture 1Bstories, which was acquired by creative AI platform Laetro in mid-2024, where he briefly served as managing director for APAC. Alongside operating roles, he has been an active investor and advisor since 2020, backing startups such as BotMD, Muxy, Creator plus, Intellect, Sealed and CricFlex through a creator-economy-led thesis.

Rao spent over eight years at Google, holding senior partnership roles across search, assistant, chrome, web and YouTube in APAC, and earlier cut his teeth in strategy consulting at OC&C in London and investment finance at W. P. Carey in Europe and the US.